


Coin Operated Boy

by Amaya-chika-chan (Hushnet)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-25
Updated: 2013-02-25
Packaged: 2017-11-06 00:12:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/412594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hushnet/pseuds/Amaya-chika-chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deidara is beginning again, new apartment, no boyfriend and finding his own way in the world with his art. Sasori is a painter who has lost his muse, and barely sees the point of living anymore. What will change for them when they begin living next to each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Life

~chika~chika~chika~

_Coin Operated Boy  
Sitting on the shelf  
He is just a toy_

Deidara sighed heavily as he heaved the last unopened box onto the kitchen counter, cringing at the awful sound the porcelain plates made as they moved against each other. Pulling the tie out of his hair he shook his blonde hair out and began running his lithe fingers through it.

The day had been long and hard but well worth his new found independence. This was going to be the first time he lived alone, without a boyfriend, without his sister, without anyone.

Sighing again and placing his hands on his hips, Deidara looked around the room with mild irritation. Everything was either in boxes or carelessly strewn about, it was going to take him forever to sort through and set everything up. Kakuzu and Hidan had bolted as soon as the boxes were out of their car and unloaded into the apartment, with Hidan mouthing something about hormonal gay men being hard to handle.

Says the man who threatens to chop people's heads off if they so much as look at his boyfriend.

Looking at everything in one place now it was easier to understand that truly he owned so little himself. His exes had always had everything either of them would have ever needed. Now he was left with a single couch, the bed his sister had bought him, his art supplies, kitchen things, and his music; two full boxes of CDs. Acquiring anything more than this in the future would mean more hours at the restaurant or finding more places to sell his art to.

But for now he would just have to decide between getting dinner or setting up and cleaning everything. The cat Tobi had given him as a house warming gift slowly uncurled from his place on the couch, only to stretch and curl back up to sleep again. The universe had decided, dinner then cleaning.

~chika~chika~chika~

All that noise, all fucking day. Sasori couldn't believe that the wonderfully quiet neighbours he had previously enjoyed had moved out of the building, leaving space for this wall-banging, loud-talking boy to rent the place. A peaceful six years were opening up to Kami knows how many years of this unwavering irritation.

At least during business hours the Japanese place downstairs offered solace from the rage that was bound to fester for him only seven floors up.

"Can I get you anything else Akasuna-San?" The owner's daughter, a girl of about twelve, lazily took the empty soup bowl from the table and smiled half-heartedly at him. Forcing a pleasant-enough smile onto his face, the red-head handed her his empty mug and grabbed his wallet off the table.

"Just another cup of coffee, please." The false smile quickly faded from his face, his muscles too tired to maintain something so unnatural. She took the cup without her own smile and dragged her feet back to the kitchen. It was quite obvious she had elsewhere to be that wasn't serving grumpy customers in her father's shop. Sasori cared little whether or not she fully believed his false pleasantry, he just wanted his goddamn coffee.

Glancing back to his sketch, he rubbed his tired face with one hand and snatched the pen off of the table. He wouldn't be able to turn this into anything on a canvas, he had no motivation, no drive to create anything. Sasori had to find something new that would wake his inspiration and skill again.

Something banging into the locked door behind him startled him out of his gloomy trance, but started him glaring angrily at the idiot who had not realized only the right hand door was unlocked.

"Jashin shit, sorry un!" The dazed blonde waved apologetically at the owner, who stood behind the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. The Akasuna's eyes widened slightly at the slightly familiar voice wailing and complaining behind him. That brat from next door had found his get-away and was here to spoil this too.

"Uhm… what's really good…? I don't want soup un… noodles! With beef un!" The owner didn't appear to appreciate the irritating voice of his customer, but uncurled his arms to punch the order into the computer.

"Anything else… sir?"

"Coffee please un…" The kid pulled a mountain of change out of his hoodie pocket and started counting it on the counter. The elder man behind the till rolled his eyes and tried to hide the smirk sneaking onto his face, he turned away from the blonde to pour some of the coffee into a mug, presumably for Sasori.

"Damnit un! I'll have to use credit, not quite enough change for noodles." The card was tossed onto the counter passed the change, only to be slid back over to its owner.

"Cash only." The little girl had returned to Sasori with the coffee and without the smile.

"Thanks." Sasori mumbled as he began chugging the coffee back before the girl could even turn away again. He was not sticking around all night to listen to the blonde's failings.

"I'm going to be up all night setting up my apartment though un. I haven't had food in the past two days, please un?" The owner looked almost about ready to toss the sushi knife in his hand at the kid. Roughly sliding the empty coffee mug away from him, Sasori gathered his notebooks and sketches together, while fishing for the twenty out of his wallet. Everything else tucked under one arm; the red-head stormed over to the till and let the bill drop onto the counter.

"The kid's too." The older man smirked a bit but took the money anyways, ringing up the two orders. The blonde stared up at Sasori, with reserved caution. Looking like he was about to speak, Sasori quickly pointed at him and narrowed his eyes.

"On one condition, you eat down here, away from our floor, and for the rest of the time you spend your miserable days in this building you make as little noise as humanly possible." His blue eyes were wide with confusion, and he saw the slight spark of fear. Sasori smirked and turned away, rushing through the door to get back upstairs into his dark warm loft.

~chika~chika~chika~

Deidara was left half-thankful, rather annoyed, and a bit confused after the red-head's outburst. That must have been one of the other people who live on his level, if he was agitated by all the noise they had been making. With Kakuzu constantly forgetting things in the car that Deidara needed, and Hidan threatening to decapitate him, he hadn't thought that they had been all that loud.

A nudge from behind him cancelled his thoughts as an open bowl of noodles and beef with veggies was shoved in his face, his coffee sitting on the counter.

"I'd actually like this to go please un." The older man laughed and picked up a spoon to hand to Deidara.

"And I'd like to retire this year, but red told you to stay down here, I suggest you listen to him. As his neighbour you wouldn't want to piss that man off." Deidara gingerly took the soup and spoon, trying to stop himself from snapping back at the man.

"Who the fuck is he to tell me where to eat un?"

_But I turn him on  
And he comes to life  
Automatic joy  
That is why I want, a  
Coin Operated Boy_

~chika~chika~chika~


	2. Solo

I just want to quickly say that I'm really glad people are enjoying this fic! I'm really enjoying writing it

~chika~chika~chika~

_Made of plastic and elastic  
He is rugged and long-lasting  
Who could ever, ever ask for more?  
Love without complications galore_

A very exhausted Deidara curled up on the still-lopsided couch, allowing the white cat to crawl onto his lap to purr loudly, demanding love and attention. He watched TJ push his little pink nose against his fingers and rub his face into his palm. A smile settled onto his face, after everything he had been through, this was all the love he'd need right now.

He had eaten his dinner quickly and raced back upstairs to commence organizing, having all but pushed his furious neighbour out of his mind, until he'd started rummaging through some of the boxes, surely enough the other man had begun banging against the wall - obviously demanding complete silence. Deidara had tried obliging him for some of the night, moving everything slowly and trying not to drop anything, but eventually it got to the point where one small noise would elicit a string of banging, he had given up.

So only having the couch left to move to a more permanent location, but not starting on it for fear of bringing the red-head to the edge of murderous, the blonde sat quietly with his cat. He was happy with the state of things; again not having much it wasn't hard to find a place for everything. The living room itself seemed massive with only the couch and the built in wall units filled with hundreds of CDs and tapes.

One of the things he'd decided would need to be bought were curtains, the huge wall to wall windows that overlooked the street and building next door were a little too welcoming to outside eyes.

TJ had swiftly crawled off his lap and was sitting in the opening to the kitchen, tail flicking back and forth, staring into the darkly-tiled room. The blonde tilted his head to get a better look at what the cat was doing, when TJ had attacked what he'd been stalking.

"TJ what'd you get un?" He pulled himself off the couch to pull the cat up by the scruff, turning him around to see the wriggling mouse dangling from his teeth. Deidara's eyes went wide as he shook TJ roughly.

"Put him down un, bad cat!" TJ dropped the mouse, only to watch it fall and squirm after it. Deidara twisted around and lunged into his room, tossing the confused cat onto the bed and closing the door before he could get out again. He returned to the mouse, who sat still on the floor where he'd fallen. Flicking blonde hair out of his face, Deidara bent down to look at the frightened rodent. The mouse twitched when he placed his hand next to him, but quickly found his nerves and skittered away back into the kitchen.

"So… there are mice in the building un... we can deal with that…" He stretched his legs out and went back to release the cat, who was batting at another mouse in the corner by the bed.

"SWEET MOTHER OF JASHIN! PUT IT DOWN, DO IT UN!" TJ ran away from him with the mouse hanging out of his mouth again, hiding under the bed and leaving his owner nearly screeching in frustration.

Everything was still stressing him out, now he had this stupid cat to save mice from. He just needed to take a breath and stop letting it all get to him. He didn't really want to be alone; he wanted someone here for him like he was used to. But that wasn't what was good for him.

What would be good for him? Friends, more work, more art? Deidara couldn't even remember the last time anything made him happy like being with someone else did. The sun was beginning to come back up, and what he needed right now was some coffee – and to make amends with his irritating neighbour.

~chika~chika~chika~

An hour of sleep. That was what he had to work with, no 'real' sleep, and it could barely be called rest. Sasori couldn't tell if his chronic insomnia was getting better or worse. After two week of not sleeping a wink, he got an hour. The Gods were not being kind to him.

"SWEET MOTHER OF JASHIN! PUT IT DOWN, DO IT UN!" The blonde had managed to keep it down for most of the night, but there had been times where Sasori had been cringing in his chair waiting for the crashing and screaming to stop. Suggested by the yelling, the blonde's cat had discovered the existence of mice in the building.

Sasori had managed to crawl out of his desk chair and shuffle over to the kitchen for coffee, before even more noise emitted from the apartment next door. As he poured the dark barely-warm liquid into his cup, and the door outside slammed, Sasori breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps the kid had finally found something better to do than piss him off.

A scraping sound of paper on the floor from the doorway proved otherwise. An unfolded letter remained where it had been left, with Sasori staring at it in annoyance, hoping that it would combust into flames. Ignoring it, the insomniac stared around his loft with a depressing sigh. Sketches and half-finished paintings littered what was considered the living room and corner where the bedroom was. The large warehouse loft seemed small with all the clutter and disarray. Not a single one of the drawings or paintings had any of his heart in them, he had long since lost his muse, and nothing got him going anymore.

Nothing except that damned blonde that constantly filled him with rage and was going to lose his hands if he continued knocking on his door like a deranged madman.

"I'll be right the fuck there!" He didn't have the energy to sit there and try to ignore the idiot; his brain might explode before that was accomplished. He set his coffee aside and rested his hand on the latch; Sasori knew he would regret opening this door.

"What can I do for you, brat?" The man in front of him was wearing the same pants as yesterday, the greenish cargos covered in what looked like paint or clay. He wore a dirty t-shirt that was far too big for him and just as dirty. The blonde leaned down and grabbed the note off the floor, shoving it into his pocket.

"I thought it would be better to say this in person un. First I wanted to apologize for the noise we made, and last night un. I was setting everything up and my stupid cat un…" Sasori rolled his mahogany eyes and tightened his grip on the wood of the door, eager to get the blonde as far away from him as possible.

"And at the same time, I wanted to thank you for the food last night un, it really had been two days since I'd last eaten." The kid was shuffling his feet and obviously embarrassed to even be at Sasori's door with this. Although Sasori barely felt bad for him, maybe catering to his obvious need for forgiveness might make the night time disturbances lessen.

"Coffee?" Sasori asked tiringly, slouching further into the door. Blue eyes widened at the word, and a toothy smirk finally spread across his flustered face.

"Sure un." That fucking word again. Did he have to say it every time he formed a sentence? "And it's Deidara un." Apparently he did.

Deidara shut the heavy door behind him, and glanced around the room, a further look of discomfort beginning to take shape.

~chika~chika~chika~

"Wow." He hadn't known that the corner rentals were loft spaces, the room was nice enough, minus the ridiculous mess that covered pretty much everything. Papers and drawings were everywhere, some of which were simple scribbles, but others were half-finished masterpieces. Deidara grinned; a fellow artist was his neighbour, what luck.

"So you draw un?" He tried to keep his voice down, as every time he spoke the red-head seemed to cringe. The other man hardly looked up at him from the coffee pot as he answered.

"No, I paint. But lately it's been hard to paint anything. So I draw to find inspiration." Deidara carefully moved some of the papers that were resting on the second of two chairs in the kitchen; he slumped into it once it was clear.

"Does it help un?" He watched the older man stop his actions and take a deep breath.

"No." He grabbed his own coffee off the counter and slid Deidara's over. Taking the seat across from him, the red-head let his shoulder's drop and his elbows rest on the table. To be perfectly honest he looked like hell warmed over. Deidara pushed the cup around the counter a bit before taking interest in one of the pencil drawings atop a pile of others. He picked it up,

"But this is so good un…" He traced every detail with his eyes, wondering how a tiger lily could come to life in a pencil drawing like this. Every line had been so carefully placed; someone had taken great care to get it to this point.

"Sasori." The red-head said suddenly, Deidara looked up and smiled at him. Even if he had been a dick and a saint at the same time, he had talent that even Deidara could admit defeat and respect to. Sasori however felt the sudden urge to punch the kid across from him. He'd done so much better than that simple flower drawing, when he'd been able to find some inspiration. At the same time he was glad someone else was here to let him know that even if it wasn't up to his usual par, he was still a great artist.

Sasori let a real smile crack and took the drawing from him, trying to see it with less critical eyes. Deidara sipped at his coffee and couldn't withhold the scowl that came as it ran down his throat.

"How old is this coffee un?" The first smile Sasori could remember having this year quickly disappeared.

"I made it a few days ago, if you don't like it you can go home and make your own." The blonde laughed, despite not being sure if it was completely serious or not. He left his seat at the island to inspect the coffee maker. Sasori watched him with irritation growing again in his belly.

"Where's your loose coffee un?" He let his head fall to the island top, his now-cold coffee being pushed to the side.

"It's in the coffee machine, brat. Are you hell-bent on killing me? You might just succeed." Deidara rolled his eyes at his neighbour's dramatics and stepped over to him with the old coffee grounds in hand.

"You were drinking mould un." Sasori scowled at the green and white covered ground coffee.

"Well I've got to go shopping anyways un, come with me." Sasori didn't want to talk anymore; he didn't have the energy to speak or move. He couldn't even keep his eyes open. But as soon as Deidara wrapped his hands around Sasori's forearm - trying to pull him out of the chair - the red-head found the energy to be very, very awake.

"Deidara don't touch me." He glared fiercely at the blonde as he recoiled slightly, raising a delicate brow at Sasori. He supposed that the older man was trying to scare him off, but Deidara was determined to make peace and get comfortable with his new neighbour.

"Sorry un, just come with me. Judging by the look of you, it's been a while since you went much further than the shop downstairs un." Sasori narrowed his eyes at the kid, who was doing something no one had in a while.

He wasn't listening to him.

Not only was it different, but the kid had touched him, nothing from his impolite demeanour to his stand-offish attitude had deterred Deidara from continuing to talk to him. If anything but annoying, it was brave.

"Let me get dressed and shower, I doubt the people at the shop want to see a dirty sleep deprived crazy looking man in their store." Deidara smiled triumphantly, already side-stepping to the door.

"I'll get ready too un, see you in a minute!" He left Sasori behind without a second glance, leaving the red-head to ponder just what exactly the kid was up to.

_Many shapes and weights to choose from  
I will never leave my bedroom  
I will never cry at night again  
Wrap my arms around him and pretend_

~chika~chika~chika~

 


	3. Puppet

~chika~chika~chika~

_I didn't think so  
But I'm still convincible  
Will you persist even after I bet you  
A billion dollars that I'll never love you_

Sasori locked his apartment door, wondering to himself why the hallway were always this much colder than his loft. Deidara was obviously not ready yet, so Sasori cautiously let himself into the blonde's unlocked apartment, becoming severely impatient.

He was only slightly surprised at the state – or lack thereof – of the kid's apartment. He realized why the mess in his loft had irked Deidara so much. Either he was a clean freak, or a severe minimalist. One couch and a wall unit full of music, no pictures, no tables, nothing really.

"Sorry Sasori un! I swear I'm almost done!" He called from the open bathroom door. Deidara was far cheerier than the company Sasori was used to, considering he was more used to his own. He wasn't even sure what he was doing here.

Deidara shamelessly clambered out of the bathroom tightly clutching a white towel to cover his lower half. Sasori didn't know whether to be irritated with him or embarrassed for him.

"Just hurry up brat, I hate waiting." Deidara scrunched his face into a look of displeasure,

"There's no reason to be so crotchety un." With that he retreated into his bedroom, the thick blonde hair sticking to his lightly tanned shoulders and neck before he thoughtlessly dropped the towel and used it to dry his face and hair.

It had almost sounded as if he was playing with Sasori, what mature adult acts like that?

"You realize the door is open right?" Sasori turned away from the changing blonde; constantly re-asking himself why he had followed the blonde. Deidara pulled the clean white shirt over his head before flashing Sasori a confused look.

"So? You sound like a fucking girl un." There wouldn't be a whole lot of things he would like about this kid, he'd decided. The red-head took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled before he tried to strangle him. Even if prison would be one of the easier ways to get away from society, it wasn't worth losing whatever it was that he still valued in life.

"I just want to get this over with." Deidara came strutting out of his room in baggy clay-covered jeans, shaking out his dripping hair.

"Just have to dry my hair un!" Sasori dropped onto the couch, now sure that the blonde was trying to fuck with him, since he'd said he hated waiting things had progressed a lot slower. He slowly studied the music filling the wall-unit, David Bowie? Yeah Yeah Yeah's? The Dresden Dolls? This boy was one of those 'would-be-inspirational-artists' judging by his music collection. Hoping to change the world with art – how pathetic; an older artist could tell the cute delusion a mile away, art was merely an expression of the now, not of change.

"Done!" Deidara emerged with dry hair, half tied up and his oversized pants barely clinging to his hips.

"Do you own clothing that isn't covered in clay?" The Akasuna left his perch on the end of the couch and was at the door before the blonde had even responded.

"Um… probably not un. I work better at night, so everything gets covered in it, plus I like the smell!" Deidara grinned insanely and grabbed his wallet off the top of the couch. Sasori quickly dismissed the clean-freak aspect he had expected; the kid must just be poor. He truly was the artist they all started out as.

~chika~chika~chika~

At eleven in the morning, the apartment elevator had far more people in it than Sasori could stand, and by the time they had reached the bottom, he was practically shoving people out of the open doors. Deidara rushed after him as he bolted to get outside.

"Don't like tight spaces eh un?" Sasori snorted and hid his eyes from the sun. When was the last time he had been outside in the day time?

"It's not about the tight space, having someone breath the exact same air as you over your shoulder feels disgusting." The blonde arched a brow at him, beginning to stroll down the street after Sasori had begun walking away.

"So you hate existing, basically un? Everyone ends up breathing the same air as you at some point."

"I know… don't remind me." It was warm out, at least being outside had that going for it. For a weekend there weren't many people walking the streets this morning, another good thing. Deidara finally caught up to him and stretched his arms upwards.

"It's beautiful out, how can you just shut yourself away all the time when this is outside waiting for you un?" Sasori double-checked his pocket for his money, he was lucky the grocery store wasn't all that far away from their building.

"Because I've lived through the 'oh the sunshine is so beautiful let's be inspired by it' phase and it doesn't move me anymore." He replied monotonously, staring straight ahead and ignoring the glare he received from the blonde.

"It's not about 'sunshine and rainbows' un, it's just about enjoying living, it could be a lot worse for you."

"Well I saw your CD collection, clearly you being an artist is fully dependent on outside forces to inspire you." Sasori snorted again at the end of his sentence, grinning at the prospect of being so naive. "A true artist can take from memory what he needs; the sunshine has nothing to do with it." Deidara pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at the red-head; clearly someone was trying to start a fight with him.

"You mean like all those unfinished drawings and painting in your room un? You have sooooo much pent-up inspiration that you just can't get a clear idea down? Is that it un?" Sasori forget about being snarky for a minute and shot the blonde a deathly stare.

After that they continued to walk into the grocery, both fuming at being undermined as something they were so passionate about.

~chika~chika~chika~

Sasori slammed the door to his loft with far more force than he meant to, but he couldn't care. How could he let himself be seen weak like that? This stupid kid was beginning to cause far too many problems then he was worth. What had he thought he would get out of socializing? A friend? Something more than that?

He felt sick, he shouldn't have gone over there after they'd come back, he should have left Deidara at his door and seen him another time perhaps. No… no he should've told him to leave him alone for good.

This was the problem people caused for each other. They fuck everything up, they change everything.

He needed to get this fucking feeling out of his gut before he exploded. He grabbed the stained jar off the counter and tested the tap water to insure luke-warm water. While that filled he grabbed an empty canvas and his paints out of the cupboard.

~chika~chika~chika~

_And will you persist even after I kiss you  
Goodbye for the last time  
Will you keep on trying to prove it?  
I'm dying to lose it_

~chika~chika~chika~

AN: Just wanted to update before the long-weekend in Calgary! This might have been a little confusing but the next chapter will explain what happened


	4. Artistic Differences

~chika~chika~chika~

_I want it  
I want you  
I want a  
Coin Operated Boy_

~chika~chika~chika~

Deidara unclenched his hands as he heard Sasori’s door slam across the hall.  He wasn’t even sure what had happened. One minute they were continuing to argue about art – Deidara was trying to convince him what he meant when he said art was fleeting. The next Sasori was so close to him, had he actually been smiling?...

~chika~chika~chika~

_~Earlier~_

_The argument about art had stalled until they got back out of the grocer; Deidara carrying multiple bags of varies foods and a case of beer, Sasori with a can of ground coffee beans._

_“So even if you are this amazing artist that really has just hit a rough spot when it comes to creating something that lives up to your own expectations, how can you view art as something so… boring un?” Sasori used his free hand to ruffle his hair, the wind having blown it all back into his face._

_“You can’t even begin to understand true art. It’s everlasting – so the inspiration must come from the heart and from the head. The more you use outside sources like music and the weather – the more you will become dependent on it, and therefore unable to create something that is truly yours that will last forever.” He drew a long breath in; Deidara hadn’t even seen his art at full capacity. He wouldn’t be so quick to argue if Sasori could show him some of his paintings he’d done before his creativity took a strike on him._

_But Deidara’s gait had slowed - his eyes wide at the redhead’s proud statements._

_“You… You’re an idiot un. How can you say that art is everlasting? You would get bored staring at the same thing forever!”_

_~Present~_

The blonde tucked the photo album he’d been showing Sasori back under the couch. Maybe he’d said something wrong, Deidara was known for not thinking before he spoke. Having only known Sasori for two days, it would have been easy to accidently insult the redhead without him knowing.

He moved into the kitchen and pulled the half ponytail out of his hair, only to pull all of it back up and retie it. Pulling the corner drawer open, Deidara grabbed the minute-fed cell phone he kept for when he really needed it.

Not that this was an emergency or anything, but he wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything else with this weighing on his mind.

Deidara clicked over to Hidan’s number and quickly sent his message.

‘Come over. Bring laptop.’ The screen flashed as it sent. He tossed it back onto the counter and rooted around in the unmoved plastic bags for the cat-food he’d bought for TJ. The cat weaved its way between his legs as he pulled the can’s lid off and tossed it on the floor. The phone buzzed on the countertop not long after.

‘Fuck you, whore.’ Deidara smirked. He might expect the Jashinist in about an hour or so. Enough time to continue working on his drawings.

~chika~chika~chika~

_~Earlier~_

_Sasori couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This brat was actually going to try to argue with him about what true art was!_

_“Bored? If something can be truly considered art, it wouldn’t get boring, even after hundreds of years.” Sasori let himself smirk again; the kid’s lack of knowledge was kind of adorable – in a grossly annoying way._

_Deidara was fuming, not only was he constantly being treated like a useless inferior, but the older man had a horribly misconstrued idea of art.  How could something last forever but still be beautiful after being viewed hundreds of times?_

_“So, as an example, you’re saying that you could view a person as artistic, beautiful even, and see them every day for the rest of your life – without once getting bored or wanting someone new?” They entered the lobby to their building; Sasori let himself relax a little when he saw they were going to be the only ones in the elevator this time. Deidara stabbed the ‘4’ button and glared back at Sasori._

_“A relationship is a completely different experience. But if we are simply coining this fake person ‘artistic and beautiful’ then yes, it would be worth it to only have eyes for them. What is the point of constantly looking for something better when you have something perfect right there? You’d drive yourself insane.”_

_Bags ruffled as Deidara switched some of the heavier ones to the opposite hand, stretching out his sore fingers. The blonde regretted using relationships as an example, because he hadn’t had time to honestly figure out what he truly thought of them anymore. That was one of the major reasons for him moving here._

_“Whatever un, I’ll just have to show you what I mean.” Sasori blinked at the sudden lack of retaliation from the blonde beside him. Did this mean he’d have to go back over to his apartment? Did he even want to?_

_Deidara had already unlocked the door and was impatiently staring at Sasori to hurry up. Why Sasori continued to follow him inside, he didn’t even know himself. He was only mildly interested in what the blonde had meant by ‘showing him what he meant’._

_The bags were tossed carelessly onto the counter and Sasori had to sidestep out of the way as Deidara pushed passed him and rooted under the couch for something. He came back up with a red leather photo album._

_“Pictures? You’re a photographer?” Deidara scowled at the title and sat down on the loveseat with the album open in his hands._

_“No un, I sculpt and draw. But when I was in college we went on a trip to a disaster zone to help with the clean-up. This is the best example I can show you of what I mean about art un.” Sasori placed the coffee can on the floor next to the couch and sat gingerly on the end, safely away from the blonde. Deidara flipped through the first few pages rather quickly, the pictures appeared to be solely of him and another man._

_“I took some of the pictures off the internet of the buildings and area before the disaster, and then all of the ‘after’ pictures were taken by me un. I had to find the places the other photographers were exactly, and then retake them.” Sasori had to admit the pictures were good, but this didn’t prove Deidara’s point at all. How were ruined buildings fleeting art?_

_“This place was beautiful and vibrant before it was destroyed; now it’s just a reminder of what it used to be un. It’s remembered because it **was** a beautiful place, and people **were** happy there.” Another page was skipped, seeming to correlate with the other man in some of the pictures. Sasori continued to scan his eyes over the pictures, not awestruck, but he was beginning to see how Deidara could believe that art could be fleeting._

_It was still a simply juvenile idea._

_“I see your point Deidara; and in a childish sense it stands valid. But this place will still be there forever, just because no one lives there now or because the buildings are ruined doesn’t mean it won’t stand as the reminder. It will be there forever – which still proves my idea correct. Only things that stand forever are true art – even if it’s meaning changes over time.” Deidara clenched his jaw in frustration and continued to stare at the photos, withholding the urge to shout at the redhead._

_“Then could we not agree that art could be both fleeting and everlasting un?” Sasori smirked at the blonde’s frustration evident in the tension held in his voice._

_“No.” Deidara slammed the album shut and tossed it on the couch next to him._

_“You’re a complete ass un! You stubborn…” He’d been meaning to tear the older man a brand new one. He stopped when he realized how close Sasori had gotten to him. The redhead hadn’t seemed to notice, as he’d freaked out earlier at breathing the same air as someone else in the elevator. Sasori was just staring at him with a slightly scary, intense smile on his face. Deidara reminded himself to close his mouth, and looked away from the deep hazel eyes._

_“S-Sasori un? Did I say something wrong?” Sasori hadn’t appeared to immediately notice that he’d been spoken to. Suddenly the smile dropped from his face and he stood up - grabbing his coffee off the floor and heading for the door. As it slammed behind him, Deidara was left completely clueless._

_~Present~_

Sasori cringed as he rinsed out the coffee maker, the white mold having situated itself pretty much everywhere around the filter holder. His frustration and anger and subsided slightly with the finished painting that stood drying on the stand next to the island. Sasori was still a little irritated with himself, having let his anger with Deidara be the drive for the first painting he’d finished in over a year. All he’d been able to think about the entire time was that stupid tiger lily he’d drawn, that Deidara had admired so much. The drawing itself still sat next to the canvas on the counter, where Deidara had left it.

He placed a new filter filled with coffee into the machine, his mouth watering at the thought of fresh coffee. There was still a lot of confusion clouding his mind, he hadn’t reacted favorably to Deidara making him feel something besides indifference and frustration, but what should he do now. The brat lived next door to him; it wasn’t like he could just ignore the idiot’s existence for the rest of his days. What was favorable? What was likely? What the fuck was going on with him now?...

He was still stupidly embarrassed, not only had he been staring at the blonde like an idiot, he’d left without any explanation.

~chika~chika~chika~

“So he’s an artist huh? You’re a fucking slut, you know that right Dei?” Hidan continued to lie on the floor, clicking through the Google search results for Sasori’s art pieces. Deidara had gotten up shortly before and grabbed more beer out of the open case in the kitchen.

“I’m not sleeping with him un, I’m not even interested in him. I just want to know why he’s so high and mighty about art un.” Deidara settled back onto the floor cross-legged, handing the other beer to Hidan.

“Admit it, you want his dick. How long has it been since you’ve been laid?” Deidara sighed and tried to focus back on the results they’d brought up for Sasori. His full name was Akasuna no Sasori, he‘d been a major contributor to the huge art gallery in the city. His parents had left him with a lot of money, and he’d taught art for six years at the university. Sasori had fallen off the map about a year and a half ago, seemingly for personal, unpublicized reasons.

“Hey blondie, still fucking talking here.” Hidan closed the laptop and rolled onto his side to face Deidara. The man in question gave him an exhausted glare and took another sip of his beer.

“I don’t know, two months, maybe longer un?”

“Fuck that noise; you need to get fucked ASAP.” Hidan grinned and drank the remainder of his beer.

“No I’m pretty sure that’s why I moved here. Was to start afresh un. No random sex, no random relationships.” Deidara figured he knew what Hidan meant. Before Kakuzu it was an easy guilt-free pleasure as friends to sleep together. Nowadays it didn’t happen very often, in fact Deidara was pretty sure that the last time he’d had sex had been with Hidan, during one of the few times that Kakuzu hadn’t been there with him.

“Aw come on blondie. It won’t do any harm. You need to fucking relax a little.”

~chika~chika~chika~

_And if I had a star to wish on  
For my life I can’t imagine  
Any flesh and blood would be his match  
I can even take him in the bath_

~chika~chika~chika~


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize for the lengthy leaves I seem to constantly take. Shame on me.

~chika~chika~chika~

_Coin Operated Boy  
He may not be real, experienced with girls_

~chika~chika~chika~

Sasori continued to pace his loft, his coffee forgotten and the new painting stored under the window to dry. He controlled everything he did, and paid attention to every detail. From what he said to the way he said things, his actions were constantly the result lengthy talks between his brain and his body. How could he let himself get that close to Deidara, to look at him like that, without having thought about it first? What the fuck was going on! None of his thoughts remained concise, they continued to muddle about in his brain like too many fish in a small tank.

"SHUT UP!" The thumping and yelling from Deidara's apartment hadn't stopped yet, Sasori slammed his fist against the wall. How was he supposed to get any thinking done with that noise going on all evening?

"Useless..." Sasori blinked and began rubbing his eyes. This was sleep deprivation, that's it. This had happened before where he had seemingly lost control of his actions and hurt someone. He needed to sleep and to sort this out later.

He peeled off his shirt and kicked out of his jeans. Throwing himself on the stiff futon he rolled into the sheets. Before he got too comfortable, Sasori reached over to grasp a half-empty bottle of pills off the floor next to his bed, they never seemed to work - but he needed something to calm him down. Shaking three small white pills out, the red-head moved to down them -

"HIDAN FUCK OFF UN!" - and let them fall back into the container.

Sasori narrowed his eyes and let the pills fall back into the container. His 'bedroom' would be the adjacent wall with Deidara's kitchen, and it didn't sound like this was about the mice.

"Good thing I don't give a shit." Sasori popped the pills back into his hand and threw them in his mouth. The bottle was tossed to the side and he wrapped the pillow around his head.

Once again there was yelling, but this time it was followed by a crash against the wall near Sasori's bed. The insomniac's eyes flew open and he crawled forward to pound on the wall. Before his hand could hit the wall, he heard Deidara moan and something hit the wall again. Instead of hitting his clenched fist on the wall again, Sasori gingerly pressed his left ear to it, still clinging to the hope that his flaring emotion was a side effect of the sleeping pills.

~chika~chika~chika~

Deidara had thought he'd made it clear that sex was the least of what he wanted in his new life. On the other hand, Hidan's hand rubbing him roughly through his jeans was making him want more than a clean conscience; especially with the alcohol coursing through his body. 

"Ugh, Hidan we can't un... I don't want to... ahhh!" Hidan's face was flushed and his eyes bore straight into the blonde, a devilish smirk gracing his face as Deidara arched into him. Still in the living room, Hidan had crawled on top of Deidara and forced his legs to sit on either side of him. It had been meant as playful, respecting Deidara's want to continue 'changing his life'; but the sight of the tipsy blonde wide-eyed and red-cheeked brought back fond memories that made this far too easy.

"You want me Dei -" Hidan kicked out of his sweat pants and ground against Deidara's ass "- I'm so fucking hard for you."  Deidara groaned and fisted Hidan's shirt, hoping that his better sense would take over at any time.

"Hidan..." He was cut off by an invading tongue and the repetitive motion of Hidan grinding against him. The older man was frantic with lust, struggling to pull Deidara's pants past his hips and tugging at his bottom lip with his teeth. Deidara's groggy mind slowly cleared as the older man sat up to pull his own shirt off.

"Seriously un, that's enough. You made your point." He was ignored, and completely dead serious. Hidan had given up on tearing Deidara's shirt off and was now making red marks along his shoulder.

"I love it when you try to play hard to get." Violet eyes dilated as he sucked the unmarked skin into his mouth and ground his teeth, gunning for blood. Deidara, who was fighting what little desire he felt for the other man, squirmed out from under Hidan. He stood up immediately and tried to keep his already-too-big jeans from falling down around his ankles. Deidara couldn't deal with his persistent nature tonight, he stood in front of Hidan trying to catch his breath, and trying not to regret his actions. But Hidan wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Tch, fucking tease."

"I'm not fucking aroun-" Hidan pushed Deidara against the wall beside the door, harder than he meant to.

"HIDAN FUCK OFF UN!" It knocked the wind out of him, and Hidan was already on him again, grinding and pulling his hair. Deidara was confused, one second he knew exactly what he wanted, and the next all he wanted was for Hidan to fuck him stupid. The only thing he really knew for sure is that either way he wanted to knock that smile off of Hidan's face.

"I don't know for sure if I want -"

"Then just go with it and I'll make you want it." Deidara glared at the older man, this wasn't fair. He continued pushing the disturbing thought out of his mind that maybe Sasori would hear them...

Hidan pressed Deidara closer to the wall, softer this time, slowly grinding against the offending clothing still separating them. Rushing this would only push Deidara further away, Hidan decided to take a different approach.

A blatant look of want flashed across Deidara's face. He pushed the lingering thought of Sasori out of his mind, there was nothing there for him anyways. He ran a lithe hand up Hidan's chest and pulled him closer with his hands around his neck. He could make due with a little guilt-free contact. Hidan undid the buttons on Deidara's pants, effectively making sure that even if the blonde wanted to they wouldn't be staying up anytime soon. It was agonizing to rub the blonde's cock this slow, but Deidara needed the tension to forget everything else.

"Well it seems there's something you want." His cheeks were stained red again, heat radiating from his whole body. Hidan could tell he wanted nothing more than to be fucked good and hard.

"Nnnn, you Hidan un. Please." Hidan backed away, standing completely nude and letting Deidara fuck him with his eyes. He didn't have to say anything before Deidara was on his knees in front of him, teasing the tip of his cock with his tongue and teeth. Immediately Hidan twisted his left hand in the blonde locks and bucked hard into his mouth.

"God I love your tongue." He let it slide to the back of his throat, achingly slow, letting his warm tongue moisten the shaft. He sped up and hummed as Hidan fisted his hair, pulling whenever Deidara swallowed around him.

"Get your fucking clothes off, slut." Deidara broke contact just long enough to pull his shirt over his head and slip out of his boxers. He pulled Hidan into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. But the other man was having none of that, he grabbed Deidara by the hips and turned him to bend over the counter, starting to tease his asshole with his finger.

"What do you think, should I just go for it, or be nice to you?" Deidara's whole body felt feverish, he wanted to tell Hidan to fuck him senseless, but the teasing was delicious. He hadn't waited for a response though; Hidan began pushing the head of his cock into the tight entrance begging to be fucked.

"Ooooh Hidan, please un!" Hidan obliged, filling him to the hilt and continuing to thrust at an uncomfortable pace. Deidara's hand flew from the counter to the wall, pushing against Hidan's hips, biting back screams. The man behind him clawed at his hips, struggling to maintain a grip as he hit the same spot he knew would make Deidara shiver and come.

It made Deidara's knees weak; he loved the loss of control. Hidan spat into his hand and began stroking Deidara, his thrusts becoming shallower as he concentrated on thumbing the slit of his cock.

"You wanna come for me don't you?" The blonde shivered and began grinding his teeth, the tension was too much, but he wasn't there yet.

"Nnn-o-t yet..." He moaned into his hand as Hidan thrust harder and slower.

"Get on the fucking floor." He let go of Deidara, letting him slide to the floor and lay on his back. Pulling his knees up to his chest and smirking at Hidan's face.

"Are you fucking me or staring at me un?" He was covered again instantly, being filled with Hidan's length, their wet bodies rubbing against each other in heat.

How had he not wanted this, what had stopped him. Deidara opened his eyes and felt a sinking sensation in his gut.

~chika~chika~chika~

Sasori hadn't moved in thirty minutes. Whether it was because he felt sick to his stomach, or because he really wanted to go over there and kick the shit out of whoever was in there with Deidara. Once again his body had lost contact with his head, and the emotions he felt were foreign.

Why was he angry? What did it matter that Deidara was fucking someone?

He looked from the wall to his bed, exhausted and finally feeling like he could sleep. He felt disgustingly human.

~chika~chika~chika~

_But I know he feels like a boy should feel  
Isn't that the point? That is why I want a..._

~chika~chika~chika~


End file.
